Matthew 6:1-4

William F. Schnell

November 16, 2008

   This past year I replaced the horn on my motorcycle, not because the old one was defective but because I was looking for a more impressive sound.  I ride a Honda motorcycle, which is already "sound-challenged" as compared with, say, the “thunder- rumble” of a Harley Davidson.  There is not much one can do to make a Honda engine project the "outlaw pastor" image, but there is a very easy fix for the horn.  One can remove the stock horn, which beeps, and replace it with one that honks.

   Among the replacement horns that honk one has a choice between a low-tone and a high-tone version.  I chose the more manly low tone, and was very pleased with the result.  But then I came across a dual-tone replacement horn that not only includes both low and high tones in one unit, but is actually 18 decibels louder than my present horn.  It is sort of like a cross between the blast of a locomotive and the blat of a cruise ship.  Got to have it.

   Why?  Because, like most folks, when I toot my own horn I want to be noticed.  Honking your own horn is a lot of fun.  Listening to someone else honk their own horn is not so much fun.  Frankly, it is annoying--about as annoying as being passed by an obnoxiously loud motorcycle with muffler issues.  That is when you wish your vehicle was equipped with a rocket launcher.  Here's the rub: when we honk our own horns or rev our own engines, we are trying to get positive attention and not locked on by a rocket launcher.

   So there is this disconnect between the honkers and hearers of human horns.  Today we are going to find that there is also a disconnect between us and God when we use spiritual disciplines to toot our own horns--to ascribe glory to ourselves that rightly belongs to God.  Nobody likes "glory hounds," and God is no exception.  God expects us to be good, to be sure, but he expects us to be, as our title puts it, "Good for Nothing."

   We typically think in terms of being good for something.   Our meaning and purpose in life is often linked with doing something--hopefully something good and something we do well.  But there is another way to understand both being good for something and being good for nothing.  When it comes to contributing to the church, which is definitely a good thing in my view, the IRS expects us to be good for nothing--expects us to do this good deed without receiving anything in return for it.  You may have seen the statement which must be affirmed when making a charitable contribution which states: "No goods or services have been received in exchange for this donation."

   In other words I, as Pastor, cannot make a tax deductible gift to this church and designate it for the “Pastor’s Aruba Fund.”  You can make a designated gift to this fund, but I cannot (this is an attempt at humor).  The IRS wants us to do good deeds—wants us to be generous in donating to good causes—indeed it encourages the same through the Tax Code, but it wants us to be good for nothing in the sense of being good for nothing in return.

   It is this sense of being good for nothing that Jesus affirms in our text for this morning.  It comes from his Sermon on the Mount.  This sermon is not kind to the religious leaders of his day.  In it he says, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (5:20).  Typically we would think of religious leaders setting the standard for righteous behavior.  Not so says Jesus.

   He then proceeds to give six illustrations of how the righteousness of his hearers must surpass that of the religious leaders.  For example, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (5:43).  Each of the illustrations follows this formula or pattern that begins with the words, “You have heard that it was said…”—“you have heard the religious leaders saying….”--followed by, “But I tell you....”  In each case Jesus illustrates how the righteousness of the religious leaders falls short of the mark.

   Jesus then goes on to expose the hypocrisy of the religious leaders who honk their own horns, rev their own engines and parade around as being religiously “all that” when, in fact, they are woefully missing the mark.  Jesus cautions: “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them.  If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven” (6:1).  Then Jesus illustrates his point with three spiritual disciplines: giving to the needy, prayer and fasting.

   Our focus today is upon Jesus’ first illustration: “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men (Verse2).  According to Jesus a hypocrite is one who pretends to honor God while actually seeking to be honored by men.  His caricature portrays such hypocrites announcing their offering to God with trumpets.  Talk about tooting your own horn.

   When I was younger I would often announce my arrival at a party or gathering by breaking through the door with a “Ta-da.”  If I was feeling particularly chipper I might have said, “Da-ta-da.”  Or if was experiencing an uncommonly good day, I might have put it this way: “Ya-ta-da-ta-da.”  It was my little way of announcing me with trumpets on the cheap.  Back then my antics might have only been mildly annoying to others (although they may have had a different read on the matter).

   Imagine being in church during worship and having somebody put their money in the plate with an audible “Ta-da” (please don’t try this here).  Or imagine somebody actually holding up the plate as it is being passed down the aisle, giving a nod to some trumpeters to offer a Greco-Roman flourish fit for the gods, and then dropping an offering in the plate.  It is a caricature of course, but it is Jesus’ way of describing the thinly veiled attempts of some to be honored by others through religious devotion.

   Sometimes you get the impression that politicians might, for an election season, wear their religion on their sleeves a little more than usual for the sake of vote-getting.  Sometimes you get the impression that sports figures or entertainment personalities or high profile convicts use religion to accrue some benefit to themselves.  And whenever you get that impression, it smells bad.  It is probably not the reaction they are seeking, but it is the only reward they will get according to Jesus.

   I tell you the truth, Jesus continues; they have received their reward in full.  But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.  Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you (Verses 2-4).  There is no way to honk your own horn in secret.  A righteous act done in secret insures that all honor and glory goes to God alone and not to us.  Others may not see what is done in secret, but God sees what is done in secret and he rewards it.

   But before we get to the reward I think we need to resolve a seeming contradiction in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, because just prior to our text he proclaims to his followers: “You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (5:14-16).

   Which is it?  Are we not to let our left hand know what our right hand is doing so that our good deeds may be done in secret, or are we to let our light shine so that others may see our good deeds?  The resolution of this seeming contradiction is found in the closing words of that statement: that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven.  We are to do whatever brings praise, honor and glory to our Father in heaven.  Sometimes that means not letting our left hand know what our right hand is doing, and sometimes it means letting our light shine.

   Part of our annual stewardship campaign is reporting feedback to the congregation regarding our progress toward the goal.  We actually solicit early responses so that on the day we kick off the campaign we can build momentum by reporting how many have already given and the amount already collected.  Our hope is that others will quickly jump on the bandwagon so that we may bring our campaign to a timely conclusion.  But we try to report this feedback in a way that brings glory to God and not to individual donors.  So in one sense we maintain secrecy and confidentiality while in another sense we are letting our light shine—all at the same time.

   As St. Paul put it in a letter to the church at Corinth, This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.  Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else (II Corinthians 9:12-13).  We believe that God rewards both attempts to maintain secrecy and to let light shine to the extent that all glory, honor and praise remains where it belongs—with God alone.

   Having resolved this seeming contradiction in the Sermon on the Mount, I would like for us to return to Jesus’ conclusion of the matter which presents another seeming contradiction—that God sees righteous acts done in secret and rewards them.  How do we reconcile being good for nothing and being assured of a reward for it just the same?  The answer lies in what has been called enlightened self-interest, and the Bible is filled with justification for it from the promise of heaven hereafter to the promise of myriad blessings here and now.

   Insofar as faith is concerned I would say that if there is nothing in it for you and me, forget about it.  Faith is based upon certain assumptions: among them that there is an Almighty Creator who loves us, who knows better than we what is in our best interest and who can provide for our best interests if we let him.  We do not honor, praise and glorify God because his fragile divine ego requires constant stroking.  We do it because the only way we let God provide for our best interest is by putting him and his will and his ways first—we do it because enlightened self-interest requires it.

   So, as the gift-giving season approaches I would like to let your church staff’s light shine a bit.  The staff here does Christmas a bit differently than most.  We have our staff Christmas party in the summer because, frankly, church demands are just too great during the holidays for us to really enjoy another event on our calendar.  But more to the point, we do gift-giving a bit differently as well.  We do not give each other gifts at all, beyond an occasional token gift.

   Quite some time ago we decided to make a contribution to a charity of our choice in honor of the staff.  But over time we decided that honoring God was preferable to honoring each other.  And so now we simply do an act of righteousness in complete secret, and I would like to commend the practice to you and some among your gift-giving circles who will welcome an alternative to giving and receiving gifts we really do not need or want (or want to re-gift to another).  Trust me on this, if you make the suggestion they will welcome it.

   There are two things I believe you can expect from this practice.  First, once you have set aside say, a sum of money to secretly give away, it becomes great fun deciding who is going to get something they truly need.  You may know a down-and-out individual or family struggling to make ends meet who is going to get an envelope of cash in the mail with no note or return address or any indication of who sent it—that sort of thing.  No one is to know about it, not even your spouse.

   Second, only God will know because only God sees what is done in secret, and he will reward you in a surpassing way.  I can’t tell you how he will do it, but I can tell you from personal experience that he will do it and he will let you know he is doing it.  Beyond that I can say no more without exposing what must forever remain secret.  But why take my word for it?  Why not put God to the test the next time a real human need crosses your path?  Be good for nothing.